This Christmas Time

Performer: Lonestar (Country)
Distributor: BMG Special Products

Notes: Lonestar: Richie (vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards); Michael (acoustic & electric guitars, background vocals); Dean (acoustic guitar, harmonica, piano, keyboards, background vocals); Keech (drums, percussion). Additional personnel includes: Larry Beaird (acoustic & steel guitars); Dann Huff (electric guitar); Bruce Bouton, Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Jonathan Yudkin (mandolin, fiddle, cello); Matt Rollings, Tim Akers (piano, keyboards); Mike Brignardello (bass); Lisa Cochran, Glen M. Childress, Vicki Hampton, Gene Miller, Vicki Hampton, Russell Terrell (background vocals). In the great scheme of things--which is to say in the context of the gazillions of earlier pop Christmas albums--Lonestar's entry into the seasonal sweepstakes probably occupies the middle ground; not quite as good as Phil Spector's A CHRISTMAS GIFT TO YOU but certainly better than the Singing Dogs' "Jingle Bells." (Actually, the Spector reference is not completely out of the ballpark, as the group covers his version of "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" here). In any case, THIS CHRISTMAS TIME works best when Lonestar stays close to their honky-tonk roots, as on their down and dirty version of Charles Brown's bluesy "Please Come Home for Christmas"). There's a bit more schmaltz in the mix than is really necessary (an easy listening "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," for example), but on the other hand their Celtic folk-rock approach to the vastly overexposed "Little Drummer Boy" actually manages to make it sound fresh, and for that alone they can be forgiven the album's more MOR moments.

The five-piece band Lonestar honed its country/soft-rock sound in America's bars and clubs for years before releasing their hit 1996 major-label debut. After bass player John Rich left the group for a solo career, Lonestar continued as a quartet, and released a second successful CD. But it was the band's third album LONELY GRILL that made them unlikely superstars. In 1998 Rich re-emerged as one half of the genre-bending, chart-topping duo Big & Rich.

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